The Calgary Stampeders defence will try to convince you this is just another game.

And that Ricky Ray is just another quarterback whose life they want to make miserable. And that his No. 15 is simply another jersey they’d like to smother into the turf at Toronto’s Rogers Centre.

But, of course, this is currently one of the hottest teams in the Canadian Football League — and the first time the Calgary Stampeders face them since the 2012 Grey Cup. Meanwhile, the 33-year-old Argonauts’ pivot is on one of the hottest streaks of his 11-year CFL career.

So, call it what you will.

“At the end of the day, week in and week out, we look at it like it’s our job to go out there and dominate,” downplayed middle linebacker Juwan Simpson on Tuesday as the 5-2 Stampeders continued to fine-tune preparations for the 5-2 Argonauts. “It really doesn’t matter who the quarterback is. For us, for me personally, guys like (B.C.’s Travis) Lulay and (Saskatchewan’s Darian) Durant — who do a lot more with their legs — they’re a lot more scary.

“I mean, you pretty much know what you’re going to get with Ricky Ray.”

Predictable, maybe, but Ray’s calm veteran ways have made him one of the most accurate passers in the CFL this season with a 78.1 percentage rate (completing 143 of 183 passes) with no interceptions through six games.

He rarely forces a pass that isn’t there and will wait until something is. Toronto’s receiving corps has routes in all aspects of the field (deep, intermediate, and check-down) while Ray’s preparations throughout the week have been reflected in 2013.

“He’s going to sit back, doesn’t mind taking a hit, and he’s going to throw that ball,” Simpson said. “They have a good, aggressive O-line who works with him and great receivers coming up. (Jason) Barnes is a very underrated receiver, we all know about Chad (Owens) . . . he’s got a punt returner for a receiver.

“(Ray) makes things look a lot better than they may actually be.”

Toronto leads the league with an average of 326.9 passing yards per game while they have the highest team completion rate of 77.4 per cent. Not only does Toronto’s offence pass frequently, they’re accurate when they do it. Meanwhile, they’ve allowed a league-low 12 sacks (Calgary and Saskatchewan are tied at 13) which means he is getting all kinds of time to make decisions.

And everybody knows, anyway, that panicking just isn’t his style.

“I don’t even think he’s the type of guy that gets rattled,” said Stampeders defensive end Charleston Hughes. “He barely talks. I’ve never even heard him talk.

“It’s really a waste of time for me to even talk about him or mention him because he’s just a flat guy.”

Which begs the question for the linebackers and pass rushers: how do you a rattle a guy that rarely gets rattled?

“All you can do is play hard and sack him,” Hughes, Calgary’s leading sackmaster with four, suggested. “Once you sack him, I think that’s what gets to him the most is making plays, sacking, breaking up balls, throwing interceptions. The little stuff.”

Exactly, said Stampeders defensive lineman Kevin Huntley.

“That’s our job as a defensive guy,” said the former Argonaut who was with the club for four seasons before being cut this year during training camp. “Your job is to seek and destroy anything across from you. Your job is to disrupt and dismantle what they’re trying to do and break down their timing and rhythm . . . Ricky’s a guy who is going to take his time and be patient.”

Simpson said it’s about using calm against calm.

“Be the same as him,” he said. “We have to understand that they’re going to make plays. They get paid, just like we do. So, we just really can’t get our panties in a bunch if they make a play. It’s going to be a four quarter game.

“There’s going to be highs and lows. We just have to expect more highs than lows.”

Peaks and valleys are exactly what you get when two good teams are on a collision course; when a good defence clashes with a good offence and quarterback.

“You want to play against the best,” Huntley said. “You want to be the first defence to get an interception or the first defence to keep him under a certain amount of yards. Or be the first player to get a big hit on him. You want to be THAT guy, THAT defence that makes all those firsts against a great offence.

“It’s always a great mind versus a great mind. They’ve got a great coaching staff, we’ve got a great coaching staff. We’re going to clash and see what happens.”

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Stamps defence will stay the course in bid to slow dominant Toronto offence

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